Thanks alec
Round Up of 3.3 Impressions - FDev Community Visit
- Thread starter VR Golgot
- Start date
Thanks for the write-up, folks. Sounds very cool!
I would say yes, they're system wide lighting changes so they'll almost certainly have effects that can be seen everywhere (although I don't recall them being shown explicitly on a planet surface). I would also say that there's something quite specific to do with lighting and visibility on planet surfaces that's coming in Q4 but I can't talk about that. :x
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Hi Alec, thanks for taking your time and trying to answer some questions while still honoring your NDA. It must be hard to withstand the temptation ...
Anyway, can you say something about the feedback threads?
Did you have the impression that FDev chaged any mechanics due to the arguments brought up in them? Or was everything just good as is (due to the now possible in depth look) and better than the theoretical concerns?
(I would be especially interested whether or not we will still get 4 dedicated mining “tools” or were they combined into just two “multi-tools” as proposed? An answer obviously only if possible...
)
Anyway, can you say something about the feedback threads?
Did you have the impression that FDev chaged any mechanics due to the arguments brought up in them? Or was everything just good as is (due to the now possible in depth look) and better than the theoretical concerns?
(I would be especially interested whether or not we will still get 4 dedicated mining “tools” or were they combined into just two “multi-tools” as proposed? An answer obviously only if possible...
)Don't really have comment on feedback threads - I'm sure there ARE things that get changed because of community feedback (the KWS revisions following the C&P updates are a good example) but I just can't recall any specifics from what we saw on Thursday. It'll be interesting to see if any of the feedback we gave on Thursday makes it into the final release, I'm definitely going to try and watch out for that. My belief is that Frontier are definitely willing (and genuinely interested) in receiving feedback but I think they're also generally fairly pleased with their own ideas (and often have good reasons for things that don't always seem obvious to us and/or have technical/practical reasons why many of our suggestions are hard to implement) so in practice probably don't change very much.
Since it's a non-change and simply a continuation of their previously stated position I think I'm safe in saying that the multi-tool (are you referring to the idea of module or limpet controller "racks" here?) is not currently part of Q4 but that they are still considering the idea (I can imagine this being something that could conceivably be added after the beta if it proves to be a major issue). Mining certainly requires a fairly specialised ship but I suspect they quite like this (I do too).(I would be especially interested whether or not we will still get 4 dedicated mining “tools” or were they combined into just two “multi-tools” as proposed? An answer obviously only if possible...
Thanks again, Alec, for your answer!
Oh, MOST definitely this!
Regarding the “multi-tools”, my wording was quite sloppy, I am afraid.
I was refering to the four different “weapons”, each of them specialized for one mining type. The suggestion was to unify them into just two: one “classic & surface” mining laser and one “sub-surface & deep core” mining missile.
Oh, MOST definitely this!
Regarding the “multi-tools”, my wording was quite sloppy, I am afraid.
I was refering to the four different “weapons”, each of them specialized for one mining type. The suggestion was to unify them into just two: one “classic & surface” mining laser and one “sub-surface & deep core” mining missile.
Ah OK - I hadn't heard about that. Nope - there's definitely more than two required (I remember because the subject of a "3rd fire button" came up in semi-joking conversation).
I'm grudgingly excited to hear that mining improvements look good. Ditto for exploration. I do think it's kind of a weird way to get the information out: show a hand-picked group of apple polishers, er, I mean youtubers and esteemed members of the community, whose gameplay experience and expectations don't even remotely reflect my own a 6 hour presentation and hope that them alluding to it and hinting about it gets me excited. I'd rather they just got out with it for Pete's sake.
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Or they simply wanted some feedback from the community (which is quite a reasonable course of action, seeing as FDev's design choices usually aren't that well-received) at the time where there's still enough time to make some changes, but it's too early to announce anything definitive without a possibility of the feature being postponed/changed/removed (somethingsomethingcarrierssomething).
Malik on the lighting changes:
Yes, I would have to say the pictures that were given out several weeks ago do not represent what you can see in a live played version of the game in a video format.
Is one of those things, if you are in an ice ring, the ambient coloring, effects, star color, nearby gas giant, shadows, it gives this feeling of "this is a cold place"
If you are on a rocky body, back to the sun, just looking over the ground, the brightness, the sharp reflections off of glossy surfaces, you know this is a hot place before the camera was turned around and you see that the star is taking up half the sky.
Because the lighting system is dynamic, you will see a totally different effect right after you drop out of hyperspace, vs if you travel the distance out to Pluto, are in different types of rings, etc. Overall I feel it definitely adds to the game.
On top of that, there are performance improvements with the new system too.
Is one of those things, if you are in an ice ring, the ambient coloring, effects, star color, nearby gas giant, shadows, it gives this feeling of "this is a cold place"
If you are on a rocky body, back to the sun, just looking over the ground, the brightness, the sharp reflections off of glossy surfaces, you know this is a hot place before the camera was turned around and you see that the star is taking up half the sky.
Because the lighting system is dynamic, you will see a totally different effect right after you drop out of hyperspace, vs if you travel the distance out to Pluto, are in different types of rings, etc. Overall I feel it definitely adds to the game.
On top of that, there are performance improvements with the new system too.
Sounds good to the ears
Psyche: FDev Visit Catch-up & Shenanigans
25m50s - Lighting changes: Looks good, tweaks, lots of oos and aas in the room.
28m30s - New ADS is amazing. Looks like a really fun, really engaging system. Looks like it's fun to watch. It's way more detailed than the existing system. Looks like it'll take a little longer to find certain things, but in a good way. The system for seeking out signals [EDIT: IE locating planets/moons and interesting clusters of worlds etc] look good, doesn't look too complicated. When there's multiple stellar bodies in one place right next to each other, you might have to go to a deeper level and scan again. Actually quite intuitive.
Would imagine it will make Road to Riches a bit harder, but they are working out some solutions for that type of gameplay. (If it stays the way it was in the demo it might make it harder, but she expects it to change. They had some great ideas. Road to Riches should end up being totally viable based on that.)
32m30s - They're considering feedback re 'auto detection' / honk and jump etc of ADS. Looking at ways to make good for both sides. Didn't feel like they sat on the fence, thinks there solution should work and be win-win.
34m - The sound of the probe launching is really good. It's super satisfying.
38m40s - It seems to be there will be shared credit for exploration Multicrew. (Unclear on 'first mapped' etc).
39m15s - Locating surface sites is very intuitive, it makes sense, way way better than the current system. A lot easier now.
41m30s - Codex: From an explorer perspective, and the idea of not using external sources, she gets the impression you'll be able to do more in-game IE track down things like the Guardian Beacons etc.
It's more than just an 'in-game book' with a list of info. It has sections and each part has a different focus.
43m30s - Mining: 'I'm a miner now'. Mining looks so good.... Mining looks amazing. Looking into profit vs time & difficulty. Would expect them to be higher across the board. Still quite relaxing but a lot more fun. (Exploration is still relaxing but a lot less boring). The animation and the look and the feel and the sound, the 'holistic experience', the visceral feeling, is so much better. Doesn't know if destroyed rocks disappear from permanent maps.
47m - Ring scanning. You can find some info on where's best to mine. They're not very 'intrusive'. You can turn off the visuals, because the scanning stuff is a lot more detailed now.
49m40s - The preview was in-game, not a video. [EDIT: For all of it]
52m05s - Squadrons: The system is pretty robust. There's a lot of different bits on pieces she kinda thinks they've hit the nail on the head with for more social features. Looks like it has a lot of detail to it. Got lots of feedback on possible additions.
1h5m30s - The unknown things aren't 'a whole new game' (IE Legs style stuff) but exciting.
1h7m - Should explorers be excited? 'Yes, yes, yes.' I said I wouldn't overhype, but as an explorer myself I'm very excited.
1h13m45s - My highlight was the Codex. No, my highlight was the probes.
1h14m50s - Feels like the new system brings back some of the engagment of the old hunting for stars via parallax
25m50s - Lighting changes: Looks good, tweaks, lots of oos and aas in the room.
28m30s - New ADS is amazing. Looks like a really fun, really engaging system. Looks like it's fun to watch. It's way more detailed than the existing system. Looks like it'll take a little longer to find certain things, but in a good way. The system for seeking out signals [EDIT: IE locating planets/moons and interesting clusters of worlds etc] look good, doesn't look too complicated. When there's multiple stellar bodies in one place right next to each other, you might have to go to a deeper level and scan again. Actually quite intuitive.
Would imagine it will make Road to Riches a bit harder, but they are working out some solutions for that type of gameplay. (If it stays the way it was in the demo it might make it harder, but she expects it to change. They had some great ideas. Road to Riches should end up being totally viable based on that.)
32m30s - They're considering feedback re 'auto detection' / honk and jump etc of ADS. Looking at ways to make good for both sides. Didn't feel like they sat on the fence, thinks there solution should work and be win-win.
34m - The sound of the probe launching is really good. It's super satisfying.
38m40s - It seems to be there will be shared credit for exploration Multicrew. (Unclear on 'first mapped' etc).
39m15s - Locating surface sites is very intuitive, it makes sense, way way better than the current system. A lot easier now.
41m30s - Codex: From an explorer perspective, and the idea of not using external sources, she gets the impression you'll be able to do more in-game IE track down things like the Guardian Beacons etc.
It's more than just an 'in-game book' with a list of info. It has sections and each part has a different focus.
43m30s - Mining: 'I'm a miner now'. Mining looks so good.... Mining looks amazing. Looking into profit vs time & difficulty. Would expect them to be higher across the board. Still quite relaxing but a lot more fun. (Exploration is still relaxing but a lot less boring). The animation and the look and the feel and the sound, the 'holistic experience', the visceral feeling, is so much better. Doesn't know if destroyed rocks disappear from permanent maps.
47m - Ring scanning. You can find some info on where's best to mine. They're not very 'intrusive'. You can turn off the visuals, because the scanning stuff is a lot more detailed now.
49m40s - The preview was in-game, not a video. [EDIT: For all of it]
52m05s - Squadrons: The system is pretty robust. There's a lot of different bits on pieces she kinda thinks they've hit the nail on the head with for more social features. Looks like it has a lot of detail to it. Got lots of feedback on possible additions.
1h5m30s - The unknown things aren't 'a whole new game' (IE Legs style stuff) but exciting.
1h7m - Should explorers be excited? 'Yes, yes, yes.' I said I wouldn't overhype, but as an explorer myself I'm very excited.
1h13m45s - My highlight was the Codex. No, my highlight was the probes.
1h14m50s - Feels like the new system brings back some of the engagment of the old hunting for stars via parallax
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Exploration changes will apply to everybody, no need to come back.
She's not referring to USSes there, but locating planets/moons and interesting clusters of worlds.
All of the previewed gameplay/features were in-game, using their latest Hot Build. Dev & QA accounts were visibly connecting in and out during the day.
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Thanks for the info, I have to say I don't listen very much to the opinions of content creators about the game, especially after having played it myself for so long. With these kind of things I'm happy to wait for the reveals to come through the official channels.
That being said, the positive reactions from passionate players who went on the trip are very promising. I will definitely be tuning in to the official livestreams.
That being said, the positive reactions from passionate players who went on the trip are very promising. I will definitely be tuning in to the official livestreams.
Wow! Really? That's the essence of 3 hours streaming?
...as if there was the need for another reason to prefer text over video
I watched the liveststream of it and they talked alot about other things... I think they spent 40-60 minutes talking with Obsidian Ant and DJTruthsayer about what they saw during the event.